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L. S'. LACHFVIAN.

, METAL STRUCTURE. APPLICATION man SEPT? 15. 914.

'2 SHEETS-SHEET ly I f l l i a Patented July 1, 19.19.

L. S. LACHMAN.

METAL STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- :5. 191

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LAURENCE S. LACHMAN, OF NEW YORK, NQY ASSIGNQB T0 UNIVERSAL ELECTRICWELDING- COMPAN'Y, 0115 NEW YORK, N. Y.', A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

' METAL STRUCTURE.

incense.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 1, late.

. Application filed September 15, 1914:. Serial are. settler.

To allwhom, it may concern:

Be it known thatll, Laonnnon S. LACH- and designed to afibrd means forsupporting plates or panels of glass or'other material filling thespaces in the frame.

My invention relates, among other things,

particularly to the means for securing the members of the frame togetherat their intersections, crossings or corners and likewise to the meansfor securing the panel in theframe.

One of the objects of the invention is to permit the parts of aimetallicstructure to be fastened together by a welded piece which may beconveniently used also for the ready attachment and detachment of an,

other part or piece as for'instance a fasten-- ing screw used to hold apanel in place in a This part of the invention involves the provision ofa nut (Jr-threaded button weld-J ed to a support whereby another memberor part may be secured to the support, the

welding being effected without disturbing or mutilating the thread ofthe nut.

The object of. the invention is also -to attain cheapness of manufactureand facility of assembling parts of metallic structures as well as, inframe manufacture, ease of assembling the. panel in the frame orremoving it from position .v

To these and other ends, which will be apparent to those skilled'in theart from the subjoined' descri tion, my invention con sists in the detais of construction and com.- bination of parts hereinafter described andthen specified in the claims. v

Figure l is a plan of a multi-panel frame embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of said frame on the line of two oftheintersections.

Fig.) 3 is an enlarged view in plan of one.

- bars.

of the intersections looking toward one side of the frame.

Fig. 4 is a plan of the reverse side of the frame at one of theintersections.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the clip used on one side of the frame atthe intersection. I Fig. 6 shows the various parts composing the frameand means at the intersections for fastening the panel, the parts beingshown disassembled.

Fig. 7 shows the same parts assembled, but with the fastening buttonsnot welded.

Fig. 8*shows in plan the reverse side of the frame at the intersectionwith the bars cut awayfor interlocking but with the fastening button atthe flanged side of the frame removed.

Fig. 9 shows in section at the intersection of the frame a modificationin the form of the bar whereby the frame may be used for supporting adouble panel, that is to say,

two panels separated by an air space.

Fig- 10 is a similar view of another modification of my inventioninvolving the. useof' rectangular instead offlanged crossing In thedrawings the invention is shown as applied to frame construction inwhich the crossing members of the frame constitute the support or mainstructure for the other parts to be attached thereto but it will beunderstood that that part of the invention relating to the welding of acountersunk threaded nut or button to a support where- 'by other partsmay be attached to the support is of general application and not limitedtoa support comprising intersecting members or strips.

1 indicates the crossing bars of the frame, each consisting, as shownin' Figs. 1 to 7, of a Web portion 2 and a flange portion 3, said flangebeing "preferably a double flange, that is to say-extending in oppositedirections from the web portion to afford a ledge or support for a panel4- on the opposite sides I of the bar', as is required when the frameis'a multipanel frame.

At their crossings or intersections the bars ormembers of the frame areinterlocked by notching each from the'meeting edges, and

the notching or removing of material including also the flange or ledgeso as to" bring the crossing members into the same lane wheninterlocked, as well understood In the art.

The cutting away of the flangeportion is removed.

5 indicates a weldingbutton or piece composed of a ridged disk or plateof metal adapted to rest by the ridge 6 upon the flanges 2 at theintersection of the bars and to afford, at the crossing of the flangesby the ridge, points or locations for the electrical welding of thebutton to the bars at their intersections, thereby, fastening themembers of the frame together onione side of the frame, as wellunderstood in the art.

The construction ofthe frame itself as so far described has beenheretofore devised by me and forms the subject of my pribrPatent No.1,100,247 dated June 16th, 1914.

Thin sheets of copper may be folded around thehead of the 'T-bar asshown in Fig. 2" to protect the same against rust and form a finish.

7 indicates a welding button or piece welded to the bars at theintersections of the frame and to the free edges of the bars, or 'of theweb portions thereof. Said button constitutes a means by which the partsof the structure are secured together, for which purpose it engages thebars at their intersection and is welded to them. To permit said buttonor piece to be conveniently used for the readyattachment and detachmentof any part or piece, as for instance the screw 8, said button or piece'is formed with a screw thread, preferably an internal screw thread asshown, said buttonin efi'ect constituting a nut which nut, by myinvention may be the ordinary threaded nut of commerce suitablymodified, as shown, by forming it with a countersink on the edge bywhich it is welded to the frame. Said screw 8 may, as will behereinafter described, op-

erateby means of its 'flanged'head as a fastening or clamping screw butobviously .it might'oonstitute any other part or'piece of a structurerequiring to be detachably fastened to the structure. The countersinkingof the nut at one side has two functions: first, it aids in the welding.of the nut to the edges of the bars by reducing the amount of materialwhere the nut engages said bar at the edge of the countersink, andsecondly, the countersink prevents distortion or injury to the thread ofthe nut, which would occur in the welding operation if the threadingextended clear through to the welding face thereof, and thereby avoidsthe necessity of tapping the welding pieces after they have been weldedto the frame. .Hence, as will be obvious, the nuts may be made in anynut-making machine in quantity, and

-after the countersinking of the same, which may be done before or afterthreading, may

e applied and weldedto the frame, this two arms of which completing theoperation of constructing the frame itself.

The interlocking of the members of the frame as described prevents theirdisplacement in relation to one another longitudinally of the member,but their displacement out of plane with one another is absolutelyassured by the welding button 7 cooperating .with the welding button 6applied at the flanged edge of the bar.

This manner of positively holding the bars against displacement and outof plane with one another; makes it unnecessary to accurately gage thedepth of the slot in the webs 2 where they are interlocked.

To hold the panel at in place retaining strips 9 of sheet metalareemployed. These strips are preferably constructed to bridge or straddlethe edge of the bar and to engage the panel by their depending ,edge orskirt, which latter is preferably for the sake of appearance as well asto give a yieldable spring seatfor the panel-turned in as shown clearlyin Fig, 2 and Fig. 9, The retaining strips extend up to theintersections at their ends but are there en aged and held down againstthe panel preferably by the use of suitable pronged clips 10, the fourprongs of which extend down preferably into the corners of the frame,although this is not necessary to my invention, while the base of theclip is adapted to rest upon the top of the button 7 and is fasteneddown thereto by the head of the .screw 8, whose stem passes through anopening in the base of the clip to enter the nut. Obviously thecountersunk fastening button and cooperaating screw and clip might bearranged and threaded in various ways and cooperate in substantially themanner described to hold the retaining strips in place without departingfrom my invention. In the modification of my invention illustrated inFig. 9 the flanged bar has a double web 2, making in effect a bar ofcross shape, afford the supporting flanges or ledges for the panels,while two other arms in line with one another form webs, each adapted tolocate and hold a panel against shifting in its own plane. ence, as.will be seen from the Fig. 9, a framehonstructed from this shape of baraccording to my invention may be used for holding two panels 4 separatedfrom one another by a space as shown. In the modification of myinvention shown in Fig. 10 the bars composing the frame are simple flatbars whose faces are unprovided with flanges or ledges but which areinterlocked at the intersections, as already described, by simplynotching the bars at their'crossing points. They are fastened at theirintersections by the countersunk threaded buttons 7 as alreadydescribed, and applied at opposite sides of the frame over vice 8 forholding a retaining strip 9 in place with the edge of its skirt ordepending portion engaged with the panel 4. In

- this instance the panel is held on-its opposite face by directengagement ofa retaining strip. 9 therewith, instead of by a flange uponthe bar cooperating with a fastening strip. In this instance, as will beobvious, one strip 9 fastened to one of the bars takes the place of aflange projecting from said-- bar.

What ll claim as my invention is l. A metal structure the parts of whichare held together by a countersunk nut the threads of which terminatebelow the level of the edge of the countersink and welded to said partsby the edge of the countersink, said nut afl'ording by its threaded parta means for the ready attachment or detachment of another" part or pieceand a screw cooperating with said nut.

'- 2. A metal frame comprising flanged crossing members combined withnuts welded at their edge to said crossing members and permanentlyfastening the same together', said nuts aifording, by their threadedpart, a means'for the ready attachment and detachment. of another partor piece, and said nuts being countersunk on the face engaging themembers as and for the purpose described. 3

3. A metal frame composed of flanged metal bars interlocked at theirintersections and having their flanges cut away at the intersections toexpose the webs, combined with fastening buttons Welded to the exposedwebs at the intersections and threaded metal buttons welded to thefreeedges of the webs at the intersections, the latter buttons beingthreaded, and fastening devices having screws for cooperating with thethreaded art' of said buttons, whereby the panel may e held in positionupon the flanges.

4;. In a metal frame composed of i'n ter secting flanged metal bars theflanges of \which form ledges to support a panel, the

combination with said bars, of permanent fastening means welded theretoat their intersections for permanently fastening them together,continuous retaining strips bridging the'free edges of the web portionsof said flanged bars and adapted to engage the panel to'hold the same inplace upon the lodges and independent fastening means detachably securedto the permanent fastening "means for removably. fastening saidretaining strips down upon theedges of the panels the ledges and meansde'tachab to permit theremoval of the panel without dismantling of theframe.

5. The combination with a frame the members of which consist of flangedironv bars interlocked at their intersections and tersections andprovided with ledges to afford a support for a panel, buttons welded tosaid bars at their intersections and to "an edge thereof opposite theedge or portion provided'with the ledge and serving to permanentlysecure said intersecting bars to gether, retaining strips for holdingthe panel down upon the ledges, clipsjat the intersections for holdingthe retaining strips in place and means detachably secured tothe buttonsfor fastening the clips in place.

7. The combination with ametal frame composed of metal bars interlockedat their intersections and having-ledges to afford a support for theedge of a panel, of fastenbars at their intersections,'detachab1e clipsadapted to engage the ends of'the retaining ing strips for holding thepanel down upon 1 the ledge, nuts welded toth'e edges of the strips andsuitable screws enteringthe nuts and adapted to hold the clips in place.

a 8. ,A metalv frame consistlng of bars interlocked at theirintersections and perma- 2 nently fastened together by buttons, weldedto the edgesof the'bars, combined .witha panel mounted in said frame,retaining strips adapted to engage the panel and means detachablysecured to said buttons for fastening the retaining strips in place.

9. The'combination with a metal frame composed of metal bar'sinterlocked at theirintersections and fastenedtogether by countersunknutswelded to'tlie edges of the bars by the edge of the countersink,retaining strips bridging the edge of the bars and adapted to retain thepanel in position and screws cooperating with said nuts to hold, thestrips in lace.

Signed at ew York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this11th day a i of September. A. D. 1914:. LAURENCE S. LACHMAN.

-Witnesses:

F. B. TOWNSEND,

HENRY A. GENs.

